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Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American politician. He currently is the senior U.S. Senator from Illinois and is now Democratic Whip, the second highest position in the party leadership in the Senate.
Durbin, a lawyer originally from East St. Louis, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and served there from 1983 to 1997.
Durbin graduated from Assumption High School in East St. Louis in 1962. He earned a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1966. He served as an intern in the office of Illinois Senator Paul Douglas during his senior year in college. Durbin earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1969 and was admitted to the Illinois bar later that year.
Durbin was chairman of the Illinois delegation in 1996. Also in 1996, he became the Democratic candidate for the Senate to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent, Paul Simon - the man that Durbin has called his mentor. The two men had been associated before; while Simon was Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Durbin was his legal counsel. Durbin won the election and was easily elected to a second term in 2002.
Durbin has a relatively liberal voting record on most issues. He opposed abortion while serving in the House, but changed his postion in the Senate. Among his legislative causes is asbestos regulation and environmental protection, namely the protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
On November 5th, 2004, Durbin announced that he had enough committed votes to become the Democratic Whip in the 109th Congress. He is widely seen as an excellent speaker and debater on policy issues - especially compared to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. It is likely that much of communicating the Democratic message will fall to Durbin in the upcoming Congress.
Durbin's colleague in the Senate is Barack Obama.
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